Element Defense - Destroy Monsters With The Power of Nature

Element Defense is, as the name implies, a Tower defense game where the four elements are your main weapons. Using the powers of the natural world it is your job to defend a magical world from hordes of insects and fantastic monsters. To find out if Element Defense defended me against boredom or left me exposed to hordes of disinterest check out our latest app test.

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Rating

Features & Use

Test device: Samsung Google Nexus S

Android-Version 2.3.4

Let's get going. After downloading the app– 3.82 MB and normal permissions– and installing it with out a problem, I decided to check the trailer to get a feel for what to expect. With cinematic flare the game promises to “UNLEASH THE POWER...OF EARTH...FIRE...WATER...AIR...AND DARKNESS.” Sounds exciting but that might just be because I grew up watching Captain Planet.

With the app installed, the opening screen presents you with six options:
New Game
Options
Trophy Hall
Resume Last Game (kann ich jetzt natürlich noch nicht auswählen)
XP Upgrades
Quit
Before I start a new game, I decide to check the options. The game has a series of rather “elementary” options consisting of selecting Random Elements and that’s about it.

As with most tower defense games the goal of the game is to protect your exit from a series of monsters– called creeps in this game– using a series of defense units including close combat and ranged combat troops and magic users. Each unit is associated with a certain element which can be used to defeat corresponding creeps.

So it doesn't get too boring too fast, the designers have included 3 maps, 6 difficulty levels and 15 different unit types, which are you only defense against 50 different type of horde. But what does game play look like?

Starting a new game you are first prompted to select a new map. Deciding for the graveyard and the beginners difficulty ( I don't want to get cocky) I get a quick recap of the rule and an explanation of the dragon (an area of effect unit in this game) and then its off to save the tower. On the right side of the screen I see my available figures and their price (in yellow) and my total resources. As soon as I place my figures I can upgrade then through a simple click or sell them back at a reduced price. And how do you get gold you may ask? By killing monsters of course!

There is also a heart on the main screen denoting how many monsters can get through the exit before your sanctuary is scraped.

Because towers cannot be moved once they are placed, players should take time to consider their strategy before they make a choice.

Before a wave a monsters attacks the field, players are treated to a dialogue box showing what devils-spawn await them in the next fight (and trust me its a lot of baddies). If you're eager to get right into the fight you can also adjust the game speed to see just how fast you can destroy the monstrous horde or get ripped to shreds.

Every 10th wave is an elementary wave meaning an elemental force of nature takes the field. You can either select the element yourself or if you selected random element back in the options menu the element is chosen at random. Once you've beaten the beast, their power is yours and can be used against the attacking cheeps and offer special bonuses like 200% damage against certain units.

Game play is very fluid despite some really chaotic battles. Instead of representing larger more powerful units with a little number as some tower defense games do, the developers have take the time to change the appearance of each character to incorporate their increased power.

Conclusion:
Anyone who likes tower defense games should be able to find something in Element Defense for them. The game was able to keep my attention longer then I expected and was an enjoyable way to kill a couple of hours.

Screen & Controls

Overall the look and feel of Element Defense is more then adequate and have a very polished air. You do need a bit of time to get into the game but once you do the controls are very intuitive.

Speed & Stability

On the Nexus S Element Defense ran with out a hitch– no lag to be seen.

Price/Performance Ratio

At 1,74 Euro it's not the cheapest game out there but the price is more then fair considering how much time I invested in Element Defense.